This is the third time in the last four seasons Minnesota State-Mankato has hosted a men’s basketball NCAA Division II regional. The Mavericks are in the men’s D-II tournament for the eighth time in the last nine years. They reached the D-II Final Four in 2011.

For the Wonder Boys, this is the first time in more than a half-century they’ve enjoyed such a sustained run in the national basketball spotlight. Arkansas Tech’s five consecutive NCAA Tournament berths is the longest streak in national tournament play for the Wonder Boys since they qualified for the NAIA National Tournament seven consecutive times from 1950-56.

“I think, especially the last two years of not having an automatic bid, we had to really bump up our nonconference schedule just to make sure we had a chance to get in to the NCAA Tournament,” Wonder Boys head coach Doug Karleskint said. He has won more games in his first three seasons as ATU head men’s basketball coach (69) than anyone in program history.

“For our program to make it the last two years without that automatic bid is really special and an accomplishment we can be proud of.”

Arkansas Tech was the regular season co-champion of the Great American Conference and the runner-up in the GAC Tournament. The Wonder Boys battled injuries from the very first day of practice, when sophomore forward and projected starter Nick Wayman of Valley Springs went down with a knee injury.

By the time the worst of it was over, ATU was down to just eight healthy players with any college basketball experience on its men’s roster.

But the Wonder Boys have since welcomed senior center Will Paul of Corpus Christi, Texas, back to the lineup. The 6-10 transfer from Stanford University was out for almost two months with a foot injury, but his return during the GAC Tournament gave Arkansas Tech an additional offensive weapon.

But it’s the defensive end of the floor that allowed ATU to persevere and win enough games to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

The Wonder Boys switched from man-to-man to zone defense in early December to make better use of the talents of their big men, particularly 7-foot junior Charles Mells — the GAC defensive player of the year.

As a result, Arkansas Tech ranks 10th in D-II in scoring defense (60.4 points allowed per game) and eighth in field goal percentage defense (.387).

But that defense will be challenged today by one of the most efficient offensive attacks in the nation.

Sophomore point guard Zach Monaghan is the driving force behind the Mavericks. A transfer from NCAA Division I South Dakota State, Monaghan is ninth in D-II this season in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.63-to-1) and 19th in the country in both assists (5.4 per game) and steals (2.4 per game).

“I was trying to think of a guard like (Monaghan) that we have faced this season, and I really can’t find one,” Karleskint said. “He’s just so solid. He is the guy that brought their program back.

“They were 7-19 last year, and now they have won 26 games this season. We have to find a way to contain him. He’s a special player.”

Today’s game can be heard locally on KWKK 100.9 FM and online at athletics.atu.edu.